1990 Avanti Four-Door

It is a genuine shame the Avanti never became a hit because it was very genuinely a cool car and widely regarded as being years and even decades ahead of its time. Designer Raymond Loewy envisioned “a low-slung, long-hood-short-deck semi-fastback coupe with a grilleless nose and wasp-waisted curvature to the rear fenders, suggesting a supersonic aircraft.” It would have been ridiculously expensive to build such a complicated body out of steel, so management decided that the car’s body would instead be constructed from fiberglass.

Following the original discontinuation of the Avanti, the nameplate was purchased multiple times over in various revival attempts that ultimately failed. Today’s example is from 1990, which means the car is a John Cafaro Avanti.

Cafaro acquired the Avanti company and operated it from 1987 to 1991. During that time, he relocated headquarters from the Avanti’s birthplace of South Bend, Indiana to Youngstown, Ohio. Cafaro notably produced “Silver Year” Avanti coupes, meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the car’s creation. However, in 1989, Cafaro lost faith in the two-door design and introduced a four-door version like today’s example. 90 of these “Avanti sedans” were built in total. 405 Cafaro Avantis were constructed before the company closed its doors in 1991. The name was unsuccessfully revived once more from 1999 to 2005, until it was discovered that the owner was running a large Ponzi scheme through the business after relocating Avanti from Ohio to Cancun, Mexico, and the name has been dormant ever since.

Finished in light metallic silver, it’s easy to see that this Avanti has been excellently preserved. From the side skirts to the sunroof, there are no major marks to point out. As for minor marks, there appear to be light scratches on both the driver’s door and driver’s side rear door, down below the trim line. On the other side of the car, the front passenger door also has two light scrapes beneath the trim line as well. Glass around the car is clean and free of major chips and cracks. Panel gaps look consistent around the entire car except for the hood. The 7-spoke ‘vortex’ wheels are in nice condition with no curb rash, and although remaining tire tread looks decent, we always recommend a new set. Overall, this Avanti has been wonderfully preserved, but the scratches will need to be handled before the car is ready to compete.

All four of the car’s doors feel remarkably solid, and they open and close with ease. Swinging any one of them away from the body of the car reveals a beautiful multi-material interior featuring leather, cloth, and a host of wooden inlays. Starting up top, the leather headliner hangs tightly in place, as do the sun visors, and shows very little staining. Similarly, the grey leather dash pad looks healthy and shows no cracks. All gauges attached to the dash are clean and easily readable. The dashboard features glossy, beautiful wooden inlays that have survived excellently over the last 30 or so years. This is a good time to mention that all of the wooden pieces inside are of similar quality. Stains, chips, and scratches are hard to find on the wood inside, and where they are present, the extent of the damage is minor at best. The tray attached to the back of the driver’s seat does seem to have a scratch in it. Speaking of the seats, the leather front and rear seats are all in fair condition. The front seats are probably the most noticeably ‘used’ area of the entire interior. Both seats show signs of aggressive creasing, but that creasing is still years away from causing any damage to the actual leather. The rear seats show much less creasing and look leagues better as a result. None of the seats show any major holes or tears in the material. Finally, down at the bottom, gray floormats line the floorboards and while they could benefit from a deep cleaning, they don’t seem to show any animal damage or threading. Much like the outside, this interior has been wonderfully preserved as well. Kudos to you, seller.

The engine bay looks quite tidy, and all components aside from a battery are in their correct location. Paint chips around the edges of the bay are few and far in between as well. Underneath the car, the frame and floorboards are jet black, and the exhaust shows minor discoloration.

Not much is known about this Avanti’s travels, but we do know for certain that the seller acquired the vehicle in November of 2012.

The original Avantis were four-seaters with massive V8s that predate the arrival of the first traditional muscle cars. For that reason, the Avanti holds an important place American motoring history as being a concept that never found mainstream success. Subsequent attempts to revive the Avanti nameplate were all unsuccessful as well, as each iteration strayed further and further from the original’s ethos. That being said, the example offered here today is highly collectable, remarkably clean, and just a small piece of the wild history that is the Avanti. Thanks to how well today’s example has been preserved, we have little doubt this Avanti will find issues hitting its $10,000 - $20,000 estimate.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL BIDDERS

It should be noted that this vehicle has been on static display for a number of years and there is no history available beyond that displayed in our photography section.

We have not started or driven the car so cannot vouch for its mechanical viability or functionality. It will require recommissioning prior to road use and is sold ‘as seen’.

Due to California emissions laws, please note that this vehicle may only be sold to an out-of-state resident for use outside of California or to a licensed automotive dealer.

Please note that the title for this vehicle is in transit.